Obama budget gives WRID $22M in 2014

Friday

Apr 12, 2013 at 9:44 AMApr 12, 2013 at 10:32 AM

The funding is an important piece of the puzzle that will lead to the completion of a water delivery system that hopes to provide a dependable supply of irrigation water to farms in the Grand Prairie region.

Leigh Kreimeierlkreimeier@stuttgartdailyleader.com

President Barack Obama has released his 2014 budget — with $22 million included to continue construction activities on the Grand Prairie Irrigation Project in 2014.

“The $22 million in funding will be used to complete the pump station, primarily the superstructure,” Dennis Carman, chief engineer and director of the White River Irrigation District. “The superstructure is constructed on top of the substructure and provides the housing and controls for the pumps and motors that have been in storage at Memphis. The substructure can be thought of as the basement and the superstructure as the main house.”

The funding is an important piece of the puzzle that will lead to the completion of a water delivery system that hopes to provide a dependable supply of irrigation water to farms in the Grand Prairie region.

“This is fantastic news,” Carman went on to say. “This level of funding is critical for us to complete the pump station segment. Not only are we pleased with the funding, but just getting in the president’s budget is great under the current funding situation. Sen. (Mark) Pryor was instrumental in elevating the awareness level of our funding needs to others within the administration. Sen. (John) Boozman, Congressman (Rick) Crawford and the rest of the Arkansas delegation have truly worked together to make this happen. It makes all the hard work and frustrations over the past few years worthwhile.”

The pump station substructure was completed in 2012 as well as about half of the pipes that carry water from the pump station to Webb Lake Road — a distance of about 7,200 feet.

“We will have a $10 to $12 million contract underway this spring for the remainder of the pipes and expect that contract to be completed by late fall of this year,” he said.

About 250 on-farm reservoirs, tailwater recovery systems and pipeline systems have been completed through this project.

Currently, funding for on-farm work is ongoing through the NRCS Mississippi River Basin Initiative. The group expects additional funding for more on-farm work through MRBI sometime this winter.

“We have a long way to go to have water to the farms, but we are clearly making major strides to make that a reality,” Carman said.

For additional information contact the WRID office, located at 157 E. Front Street in Hazen or call (870) 255-2202.